Matthew Leone shouldn’t be walking. Or talking. Or possibly even alive. The bassist for popular Chicago band Madina Lake was savagely beaten in June after he tried to intervene in an altercation between a man and his wife.

The man attacked Leone from behind, injuring him so severely that doctors removed one-third of his skull to make room as his swollen brain returned to size. Now Leone says his recovery is a profundity he can’t even begin to understand. “They say I’m borderline defying science,” Leone said, “because of the way I’m able to walk and talk.”

Leone also suffered a broken jaw, a broken nose and a fractured skull. Leone went through two surgeries to re-attach parts of his skull. The support he received has been amazing, he says.

“People have absolutely blown my mind with their good vibrations, it’s just floored me.”

Charges against Leone’s attacker were filed in July. Asked whether he bore any ill will to his attacker, Leone said he couldn’t let that occupy his thoughts.

“If I let that dominate my thoughts or my life, it’s just going to negatively affect me.”

The alleged attacker of MADINA LAKE bassist Matthew Leone has been charged with Attempted First Degree Murder, Aggravated Battery Causing Serious Bodily Harm and Aggravated Battery in a Public Place. The news came in an update from Matthew’s twin brother Nathan.

Updating his blog, Nathan told fans and well wishers they were forging on with getting things back to normal, despite Matthew recently having to be taken into the ER with a ruptured wisdom tooth. With the weekend seeing 2 benefit shows in aid of Matthew in their native Chicago, they were “focusing on the positive”.

“It’s a grandiose display of Chicago’s integrity, loyalty, compassion and strength and we’re so effing lucky to have such amazing people in our lives…There’s an old adage I try to live by which says “you are who you are and where you are because of the dominating thoughts that you allow to occupy your mind” .. so let them be positive, optimistic and inspiring thoughts.. crush the rest of em..”

By now everyone who knows Rock Sound knows what happened to Madina Lake bassist Matthew Leone in late June after his intervention in a domestic violence incident in Chicago left him minutes from death.

With the shockwaves still rippling through the Leone family, the band, the wider music community and as the case against Justin Pivec is built Rock Sound spoke to the man who knows Matthew best to find out more about the shocking attack and his brother’s inspiring will to live.

Below is a full transcript of a conversation with Madina Lake singer Nathan Leone conducted towards the end of the band’s UK tour. We’d like to thank him now for his honest and open account of recent events. We’d also like to salute Matthew’s bravery and tenacity, read below and you’ll see exactly why.

What was the scene like in the hospital when you first arrived to find Matthew?
”At the hospital his brain began to swell and we had to fight for a CT scan. He and I knew something bad was going on so we basically screamed and yelled and caused a big scene until we got a rushed CT scan. A minute after that scan he and I were in another ambulance on our way to another hospital for emergency surgery.”

How scared were you at that point, sounds like Matthew held on to life by a thread?
“It was even worse than that. There are some horrific things he experienced that I can never repeat, it’s impossible to explain. When you have a twin brother who is your best friend and soulmate and you never spend two seconds apart, to have that person not recognise you for two or three days after surgery, to not know where he was or what was going on with him, it was the ultimate torture.”

READ MORE »

From Punk to Funk was organized by, Greg Firak, a professional musician in Chicago’s funk scene & a friend of the Leone family since before high school. With the help of Elena Ulyanova (PR) and the owner of Reggie’s, Rob Glick, FPtoF has turned into an amazing benefit for Matthew Leone.
Artists like Dexterous Roy, Liquid Soul, Fifth World,  Good Evening, Horror is Dead and Just Infinite (and more) are on the bill. Tickets are available here and are $20 each. This event is 18 and over.
Besides that, there’s a free food buffet from Reggie’s Gourmet Kitchen.

More info.

Read all the info here and donate or get tickets for this event.

“ALL TOGETHER FOR A FRIEND” is a show organized by Matthew’s friend Dayna Lane.  She has put together a group of local acts willing to volunteer their time and talents in an effort to help Matthew with this rough ride.  Acts include:  Dayna lane, Ph1ll and The Great Energy Transfer, Kevin Mileski, Karle Lapetina, Dave Young, Greg Firak, and Jaclyn James.  Most of the acts attended high-school with Matthew.  The show happens Sept. 18th, starting at 6pm at Lamplighters Tavern in Palatine (60 N. Bothwell).  Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

follow him here: http://madinafire.tumblr.com/

matthew to earth, come in earth…
when faced with a situation in which my dome can’t muster the words to match the emotion I’m aiming to convey, historically, i’ve houdini’d the sitch with some good ole fashion humor (generally of the self deprecating variety.)  this is the inaugural stumping of said abilities.

as you know, we’re believers in the cosmos.  the energy fields on a sub-atomic level that shape the currents of our oceans.   we all know intrinsically and instinctively, what a situation feels like before an action is displayed to confirm it.

well…as effective and trustworthy as this faith has been in our minds, it was put to the ultimate test for me back there at the end of june.  i’m not quite ready to share the events in detail (i will soon), but i could not wait to share the following with you, our family, the River People, the musical community and friends.

i’m beyond lucky.  i have a soul connected to mine in an existential way.  while i was unconscious in the first hospital the ambulance took me to, i was in trouble.

READ MORE »